Safety of balconies with little children

[Low Country Sandlapper]

A friend of mine is looking to book an early 2025 Disney cruise.  She and her husband will be traveling with their son, who will then be 5 years old.  She is worried that if she books a balcony cabin, the child will find a way to wedge himself through the bars and fall off.  I cannot imagine that would be possible.  Can anyone direct me to information about the space between bars on the ships that have that sort of balconies?

Thank you!

[gometros]

17 minutes ago, Low Country Sandlapper said:

A friend of mine is looking to book an early 2025 Disney cruise.  She and her husband will be traveling with their son, who will then be 5 years old.  She is worried that if she books a balcony cabin, the child will find a way to wedge himself through the bars and fall off.  I cannot imagine that would be possible.  Can anyone direct me to information about the space between bars on the ships that have that sort of balconies?

Thank you!

 

I wouldn't worry, unless they intend to leave the child out there unintended. The balcony door is heavy and the lock is high up, too high for a child to reach. They also have to turn the handle to open it.

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, Low Country Sandlapper said:

A friend of mine is looking to book an early 2025 Disney cruise.  She and her husband will be traveling with their son, who will then be 5 years old.  She is worried that if she books a balcony cabin, the child will find a way to wedge himself through the bars and fall off.  I cannot imagine that would be possible.  Can anyone direct me to information about the space between bars on the ships that have that sort of balconies?

Thank you!

As noted, the the lock on the door is high, too high for a child to open.

 

 

Also, the railing has plexiglass on it.  You can see the edge of it (sort of) in this picture right in the middle

 

[mommb]

As shown in the picture above, the balcony railing is almost entirely solid so wedging through it to fall out would be impossible for a 5 year old. The only possible concern would be a child climbing on furniture near the balcony. Of course, if someone is on the balcony with a child, it is necessary to watch the child closely to make sure the child isn't climbing on furniture anywhere near the railing, just as kids need to be watched when walking on the outside decks. 

 

If the top of the balcony door is locked, a 5 year old would be highly unlikely to open it, especially without anyone in the room noticing. As gometros described, there is also a lower door knob (middle right in the picture of the balcony) that must be turned and then pushed to the side to open the door. It took me at least 3 cruises (as an adult) to be able to open that door easily. 

 

If your friend is worried, she certainly doesn't have to get a room with a veranda, but you can assure her that Disney Cruise has designed the verandas to be as safe for kids as possible.

 

 

[gometros]

23 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

As noted, the the lock on the door is high, too high for a child to open.

 

 

Also, the railing has plexiglass on it.  You can see the edge of it (sort of) in this picture right in the middle

 

 

Thanks, Shmoo. I thought I had a picture of the window, but couldn't find it and a picture is worth a thousand words.

[hackif]

The bars on all of the railings - on the verandah and all over the ship - are on the outside of a large piece of plexiglass. You can't reach them at all. As you can see in the photos, there's a small (2-3" high) gap at the bottom between the plexiglass and deck and about 1-2" between the plexiglass and posts. You can't get between the bars and you can't even stand on a bottom one to lean over the top.